Secretaries who believe they rule the unit or hospital

Altra, BSN, RN · Apr 8, 2016

Secretaries run the unit logistics. Yes, you as a nurse are focused on the clinical care of your patients, but all that logistical stuff in the background enables you to do that.

In my experience, it's common for newer nurses to be pretty unaware of the organizational/logistical grease that makes the wheels spin ... and so we have "conflicts" such as the OP describes.

Consider the posts in this thread from those who work without ancillary help -- then reconsider how you can better work with them.

FolksBtrippin, BSN, RN · Apr 9, 2016

Yea.. can definitely relate to the OP here. Where I've worked, secretaries think that they have the lay of the land on a given unit. It's especially bad when the secretary has a lot of seniority. They think they're some sort of proxy for the managers because they pass out newsletters or answer the phone for the unit. Like they're some sort of communication hub. They also control the stationary and office supplies for the unit which emboldens them furthers.
I think part of this phenomenon is due to secretaries and unit clerks being from the lower socioeconomic strata of American women. They're on par with waitresses, cashiers, babysitters and act as low class as the group they originate from.

Nothing like some good old fashioned classism to decide an issue. Why bother trying to understand the dynamics on this particular floor when you can instantly write off the whole issue with prejudicial beliefs?

It does beg the question that if poorly paid workers are grumpy, might it be at least partly due to the fact that by definition they have all the stressors that come from not having enough money?

FolksBtrippin, BSN, RN · Apr 9, 2016

"Maybe you are new" is a tired played out response.
Examples not listening to staff because "she is not relevant to me!". I don't care how good you are at your job, or how much of an assets you are, it doesn't excuse bullying behavior.
Examples: going into patient's (confused/psych) room to literally yell at them to be quiet.

I can tell that you are having a hard time with your unit secretary. The problem with your original post is that you generalized your problem to the position instead of the actual person you're dealing with. It was impossible for us to tell whether the US was actually out of line or not. So people assumed based on what they experience.

And as you can see, many of the nurses here like their unit secretaries very much.

The post that I quoted here, is a much better example of your problem. The US should not tell a patient to be quiet. "she is not relevant to me" is is hard to understand out of context. What was that about?

Pat_Pat RN · Apr 12, 2016

I was a UC in the ER before getting my RN. UCs DO run the unit. Things don't happen without them. If that chair is empty, it puts a whole lot of stress on everyone else. Sometimes UCs can anticipate what the docs will order, and that depends on the UC and the doc and the understanding they have with each other. One doc told me once, "Order what I meant, not what I write," in reference to ordering a Quantitative HCG instead of a Qualitative. Another doc asked me if there were classes to become a UC, and if so, I should teach them. I really enjoyed that job, probably more than nursing.

lemur00, BSN, RN · Apr 12, 2016

We had a uc (briefly) who was like this. Would argue with the nurses over clinical decisions and the like, repeatedly claimed all RNs were stupid, etc. Two of the charge nurses went to the manager and threatened to quit if this uc was allowed to pass probation. Thankfully the manager decided they were more valuable.

That said, I find territoriality far less annoying than expecting you to do their job (eg stocking or thinning charts, calling out consults) and then leaving early. Cause nurses have nothing better to do?

applesxoranges, BSN, RN · Apr 17, 2016

When I was a secretary, the RNs would drive me nuts when they tried to "help" with a transfer. It was like, "no! Stop. We have to coordinate through (service) now to transfer patients. Do not call the hospital directly. I'll get written up."

jwmua · May 26

I'm a unit secretary for a cancer unit. I don't think we "rule" anything. True that most of us don't have RN LPN CNA PCA training, etc. However, some secretaries do. Some could have CNA background and working on becoming a CNA/PCA/LPN/RN. I respect what nurses do and could never do that myself. In my honest opinion, I never want to be a nurse. Most of them can be condescending and unappreciative of the small things we secretaries do. Not to mention the lack of compassion nurses have in the present day by default (burnout, short staffed, workload, etc). The attitude, the high and mighty persona, the "I'm part of the elite" mentality....I wouldn't want to be associated with that kind of behavior. Not all nurses are like this. So I can't group ALL nurses into this "I'm God" category. But based off of my personal experience having worked in the past as an office assistant for an OB clinic and then a gastro/uro multi-specialty office, the attitude towards those who don't share the same job title as them is unacceptable. So no, we don't rule anything, but what little we do for our unit, the secretaries that care, we don't get the credit, appreciation and respect that we deserve. I get nurses are short staffed and dealing with a big eclectic of issues day in and day out. But that doesn't mean they get to treat us like a Whipping Boy and overwhelming us with so many tasks that it's hard for us to keep up. Believe it or not, we too have job expectations and at times walk into chaos and expected to save the world in a New York Minute. It takes time when it's a busy day answering phones, answering questions on the fly, family coming to our unit asking questions, CNAs wanting us to do things for patients because they don't have time to do it because they're doing vitals/blood sugars/baths and have their own jobs they have to focus on. Sometimes little old me has to ask for help because MY plate can overflow. I've spent hours fixing ONE issue with the unit call bell system that crashed during a night shift and I work day shift. Literally from start of the day until nearly three hours before the end of my shift. Just yesterday I spent 1.5 hours fixing an issue that, again, happened during night shift involving a patient from a different unit having their heart monitor info show up on my unit's screen that was erroneously assigned to a patient's heart monitor on my unit. Telemetry told me themselves that it was a great catch. I was the only one who caught this error not even a half hour into my shift. It's a patient safety issue when a 70 yr old male and a 38 yr old female could have info messed up over the wrong telemetry heart monitor reading. As you can see, I care about my job. But by no means do I feel I "rule" anything. Secretaries are often the piñata and we get blamed for things that may not even have anything to do with us. We deserve a sliver of respect. That's the least anyone can do for US.